"It is a very specific relief designed to help local businesses that are important to the local community when they need it the most," she said.

"As we have seen in the case of Ceredigion, some councils have made good use of these powers and have been good at publicising to businesses in their county that this relief exists.

"Given that some authorities have made such good use of this form of relief it is disappointing that others have made no use of these powers at all in recent years.

"We would call on those local authorities that have not paid out under this scheme to do more to publicise hardship relief and to offer it to assist deserving local businesses in the interests of the communities that they serve."

'Risks'

A WLGA spokesperson said local businesses benefit from around £90m of mandatory reliefs every year and councils also invest a further £95m in economic development activity.

He said: "Hardship funding is a matter for each individual local council and must be partially funded by the council taxpayer.

"When awarding business rates relief, local councils have to weigh up the benefits of such schemes to businesses and the local economy alongside the risks of not being able to invest in vital local services."